In the great majority of passenger automobiles, the engine is started by the fact that the driver moves the key of the ignition and starting switch into a starting position and holds it there until the engine has started up. When the driver releases the key, the starter is immediately deactivated. In this context, it is left up to the driver to hold the ignition key in the starting position until the engine starts up under its own power or the starting operation needs to be discontinued.
For convenience reasons, a so-called automatic start function has been integrated into some vehicles; with this, the driver either briefly presses a starter button or briefly moves the ignition switch to the starting position, and an automatic control system activates the starter until the engine starts up under its own power. It is problematic in this context that with an automatic starting operation of this kind, this starting operation cannot then be discontinued if, for example, persons appear in front of the vehicle and the transmission is not in neutral or the clutch has not disengaged.